G Adventures to release tourism documentary
G Adventures’ founder Bruce Poon Tip hopes to visit the UK in the coming months to promote a documentary that explores how the travel and tourism industry “can build back better” after the pandemic.
Canada-based Poon Tip is the executive producer of The Last Tourist, which highlights problems such as “animals suffering for entertainment, orphaned children exploited for profit, and developing economies strained under the massive weight of foreign-owned hotel chains”.
The 90-minute independent documentary features “local heroes” who are using tourism to preserve cultural heritage, sustain wildlife, and support the social and economic wellbeing of communities.
It also includes travel and tourism visionaries including Dr Jane Goodall from the Jane Goodall Institute and a United Nations Messenger of Peace; Lek Chailert (Save Elephant Foundation); and Meenu Vadera (Sakha Cabs For Women).
Poon Tip told a Travel Weekly webcast that the film was a four-year project, “showcasing that tourism is a force for good”.
The Last Tourist premiered at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival on March 8 and launches in the US on March 15, then in Canada on April.
The Last Tourist is currently seeking regional distribution agreements in the UK and Europe.
G Adventures aims to have rights secured for the UK in the next couple of months and hopes to host a UK trade event to promote the documentary.
The film was awarded with the ‘Special Jury Prize for Social Impact’ by the Canadian Documentary Jury at the Calgary International Film Festival, and is currently nominated for “Best Canadian Documentary” in the 2022 Vancouver Film Critics Circle Awards.
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